NC State wrestling Notebook: Previewing the Pitt Dual

No. 6 NC State (8-1, 2-0 ACC) welcomes No. 15 Pitt (8-2, 1-0) Friday night in a battle of ranked ACC squads looking to stay undefeated in conference action. The dual will be at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum and streamed on ACC Network Extra.

The Pack started 2-0 in ACC duals, winning 19 of the 20 individual conference matchups and defeating Duke and Virginia by a combined 79-4.

NC State has won its last 14 ACC duals in Reynolds Coliseum, and 20 of the last 21 in Raleigh dating back to the 2017 season. The Pack’s lone loss in the stretch was Feb. 10, 2019, against Pitt (18-16). Come Friday night, NC State has not lost a home ACC dual in 2,206 days.

The Panthers come into the dual on a five-match winning streaking, including 24-15 over No. 15 Stanford to open ACC action back on Jan. 10.

Here is a weight-by-weight look at the NC State-Pitt dual.

125: No. 3 Vince Robinson vs. No. 25 Nick Babin

Robinson started his ACC career with a tech fall at UVA, and now the 125-pound ACC grind gets underway this Friday. Robinson will have ranked conference foes from here on out: Pitt, UNC (No. 12 Spencer Moore), Stanford (Nico Provo was preseason top-10 but hasn’t wrestled this year and no announcement has been made about his status) and Va. Tech (No. 5 Eddie Ventresca). What once was one of the weakest ACC weights might be the best one this year.

Babin transferred to Pitt this year from Columbia for his final season. He missed NCAAs last year, but went 2-2 back in 2023. He is 2-2 against ranked foes this season, including a 1-0 decision over then-No. 7 Jakob Camacho of NC State back in November.

WrestleStat prediction: Robinson by 13-3 major decision.

133: No. 12 Kai Orine vs. Tyler Chappell or Vince Santaniello

Orine missed the UVA dual, with Troy Hohman stepping back into the lineup and recording a ranked win over No. 27 Gable Porter (5-1). Since moving down to 133 pounds before Christmas, Orine is 2-1 at the weight where he earned All-American honors each of the last two years.

Santaniello hasn’t wrestled since Dec. 20 for Pitt, Chappell has been the recent starter. He redshirted last year at 125 pounds and is 1-1 at 133 this year after bumping up Jan. 3. Orine defeated Santaniello twice by major decision last season, 10-2 in the dual and 10-0 at the ACC Championship. 

WrestleStat prediction: Orine 10-3 over Santaniello and Orine by 13-3 major decision over Chappell.

141: Tyler Tracy vs. Anthony Santaniello

This is a rare unranked vs. unranked match-up in this rivalry. With Orine moving down since the Cornell dual on Dec. 22, Tracy has moved down from 149 pounds and claimed the starting spot for the Pack. He is 1-3 at his new weight, all his losses to ranked foes.

A top-50 recruit originally signing with Oklahoma, Santaniello redshirted last year but was injured most of the season. He has a pair of ranked wins on the season.

WrestleStat prediction: Santaniello 9-4.

149: No. 29 Koy Buesgens vs. No. 21 Finn Solomon

This will be the second straight ranked ACC foe for Buesgens — he took out No. 28 Jack Gioffre of UVA, 4-2. The win broke a five-match losing streak against ranked foes this year, but none of his losses have been by more than five points, and four were by less than a takedown.

Solomon spent a season at NC State, redshirting in 2023. He transferred back to his home state and is in his second season as a starter at 149 pounds. An NCAA qualifier last year, he has won four straight matches (two straight tech fall wins) and captured six of his last seven dating back to before Christmas.

WrestleStat prediction: Solomon 11-4.

157: No. 14 Ed Scott vs. No. 25 Dylan Evans

Since late November, Scott has gone back and forth in the win/loss column going 2-2. After his win at UVA, Scott will be looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since Nov. 17 and 23. He is 3-0 inside Reynolds Coliseum this year, all bonus point wins.

A local Pittsburgh product, Evans redshirted last season, and is in his first season as a starter. He has been ranked each week going back to early December. He sits at 14-4 on the season, all of his losses to foes ranked No. 21 or better. He also has four ranked wins.

WrestleStat prediction: Scott 8-7.

165: No. 28 Derek Fields vs. Jared Keslar

Fields has perhaps the toughest schedule thus far for the Pack, facing eight ranked foes, three straight and five of his last six matches. Unfortunately, Fields has lost six of his last eight bouts dating back to mid-November, but he is 2-0 in ACC action including an impressive 7-2 win over No. 29 Aidan Wallace of Duke.

Keslar was Pitt’s starter at 157 pounds last year. He is coming off an impressive 13-5 major decision over No. 23 Noah Mulvaney, and earlier defeated Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso when he was ranked eighth, 13-11.

WrestleStat prediction: Fields 8-5.

174: No. 18 Matty Singleton vs. No. 20 Luca Augustine

Singleton will be facing his ninth-ranked opponent of the season. He has three ranked wins thus far. Singleton has started his ACC career 2-0, outscoring those foes 28-6.

Augustine is a two-time NCAA qualifier, going each of the last two years. In his third year as the Panthers’ starter at 174 pounds, he has been consistent, ranking between 15-18 every week of the season. Singleton is his sixth straight ranked opponent, and he is 2-3 in this stretch.

WrestleStat prediction: Singleton 6-5.

184: No. 11 Dylan Fishback vs. No. 15 Reece Heller

This has been quite a nice ACC rivalry over the last two seasons with Heller leading the all-time series 3-1. The two split last year, Heller won in the dual 4-3, while Fishback took the match at the ACC Championships, 8-2. They met this year at the Cliff Keen in November, Heller scoring a 2-1 decision.

Fishback has split four matches over the last two months and is looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since late November. He is 1-4 against ranked foes this year with three losses to top-10 opponents.

Heller, in his final season and third as Pitt’s starter at 184, has been an NCAA qualifier each of the last two years. He won the weight class at the Midlands a couple of weeks back, going 5-0 with bonus point wins. He enters this matchup on an eight-match winning streak, and all three of his losses are to ranked foes, two in the top-6.

WrestleStat prediction: Fishback 8-6.

197: No. 26 Christian Knop vs. No. 11 Mac Stout

Knop returned to the Pack’s lineup after missing action with an ankle injury against Cornell and has gone 3-1. He is 2-0 in ACC action, outscoring his foes 28-9 in his first conference action of his career.

Stout is in his second season as the starter. Last year, he qualified for NCAAs and advanced to the Round of 16. Stout also collected a Midlands Championship, winning all five matches including his final two against ranked foes. This year he sits at 15-2, with a 12-match winning streak — his last loss was in late November. 

WrestleStat prediction: Stout 9-3.

285: No. 4 Isaac Trumble vs. No. 13 Dylan Pitzer

This looks like it will be the best match of the dual, a pair of the most athletic heavyweights in the nation.

Trumble has already faced 10 ranked foes this year, going 7-3 thus far. In his first season up at heavyweight, he has gone tech fall and pin in his first two conference matchups.

Pitzer was hurt most of the second semester last year with a shoulder injury, but still qualified for the NCAAs in his first year as a starter. Pitzer is 8-1 this year (all duals). His lone loss was to No. 14 Seth Nevills of Maryland, his lone match this year against a ranked foe.

WrestleStat prediction: Trumble 7-6.